Title: The Trouble with Rings
Author: Tiny Q
E-Mail: one_legged_lesbian_seagull@hotmail.com
A/N: Well, I am not quite sure where this came from. I had sat down with the intentions of writing the next chapter of Fragments (because it's been a horribly long time since I did) but as I was putting a new load in the washing machine the first paragraph drifted into my head. I know it's a cliché, but the rest of the story just started to unravel until it was done. I don't think that has ever really happened to me before. A whole story in one sitting. Usually they end up sitting there for a month or so before I add the second half. Oh well. I have always wanted to write something like this so I hope that you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and perhaps the evil ducks. Mwa ha ha ha. I will have to sculpt one out of clay as a tribute some time soon... It will be fun...
The Trouble with Rings
~*~
I don't know why men would take so long to propose. It's not like it would be that hard. I mean, if you love the woman, what's the bloody big deal? Or do they simply like walking around with an engagement ring in their pocket?
He had asked himself this when he was about seventeen years old and completely ignorant to the fact that he was jinxing himself into a very uncomfortable position in his not-so-distant future. At the time, however, it hadn't even occurred to him that he would ever fall in love. That he would ever need to be loved by someone. He was Draco Malfoy after all, the Slytherin Bad Boy. And bad boys do not fall in love. If Draco could have met his younger self right now he would have beat him within an inch of his life.
You see, the present Draco Malfoy, tall, rich, prestigious, handsome and twenty-seven, had fallen in love. Hard. And to a person that would have had his younger self committing self-righteous suicide to ensure the event would never ever happen. He had fallen for a Weasley. A Weasley named Ginny.
He had never liked her at school. In fact, he had hated her entire being. Especially after his fifth year where it seemed everything that he thought he was sure about life was coming apart at the seams, frying in every possible way. Her cheerful demeanor back then had infuriated him. But now it attracted him to her like a moth to a flame and he couldn't bring himself to care enough about the past to resist the temptation.
It had happened two years ago when by a freak chance they had wound up in the same Wizarding hotel in Hawaii, both alone and single. Both on the beach fighting over the last umbrella. Some how their animosity had turned into a brilliant idea by her to share the umbrella and it had just spun off from there. The details don't really matter for all you really need to know is that Draco and Ginny met and Draco fell head over heels, something he never thought he would ever experience.
And now, here he was, two years later, still in love, perhaps even more so, with a ring in his pocket. And he was in the middle of the exact same predicament that his younger self had scoffed at. Thus is the reason why he would like to cause physical harm to his aforementioned younger self. Preferably with a stick. A large one.
He had had the stupid ring for the past five months. Five months of carrying around a twenty-four karat diamond ring with a delicate and intricate design holding it in place. One would think that with such a splendid ring there would be no doubt that any woman would throw herself at him. But Ginny wasn't like that and he knew it. She wasn't one to be swayed by appearances and pretty things. She searched for the deeper meanings. Any gift, any action, any word was all taken into account carefully in what seemed to be a subconscious reaction. Draco had learned to not take offense from it. Otherwise he would have gone insane loving a woman who irritated the hell out of him. Not a pleasant situation I can assure you.
Well, back to the lovely ring that had taken up what seemed to be a permanent residence in his trouser pocket. He wanted to give it to her, he really did. He wanted to marry her and be sure that he would be able to see her kind and beautiful face every morning he woke up. He wanted to make sure that he could be there for her when she needed someone to support her. He wanted to love her and never have a doubt in her mind that she was not alone. But somehow the ring seemed pitted on remaining in Draco's pocket or it would have been long gone.
He had tried multiple times to give the red head the ring he had bought for her. Multiple times that had all gone terribly wrong. It had taken him a complete month just to get the nerve to decide to ask her, the ring in his pocket all the while. That in itself was a dark mark for him for Malfoys are never nervous about anything. He was always told time and time again that Malfoys choose what path they want to take and go and take it. They do not stand about, "ho"ing and "hum"ing in an attempt to figure out what to do. They must make a wise decision and come at it with a source of research, but they are never nervous and they never delay. He began to think then that perhaps he wasn't quite the cookie cut-out Malfoy that his family had wanted him to be.
When he finally did get the nerve to ask her, he decided to make it as romantic and classic as possible. He had taken her out for an expensive dinner at a restaurant that she loved and then they went for a midnight stroll along the coast. Everything had gone fine until he had gone down on his knee in the pretence of getting something off the ground (his opportune moment to get the ring out of his pocket) when his nose began to bleed. Seeing that no one would want to accept a proposal from a man with blood all down his front he gave up his first attempt and allowed the Weasley to help him with his nose. Which, might I add, had bled for almost an hour. Draco had been miserable.
So when he next got up the courage (it was a week later), he decided that perhaps the classical approach wasn't the best way to go about the proposal. Ginny, after all, wasn't exactly a classical woman. Far from really with her radical ideas and new age actions and customs. So he decided to cater more to reflect the woman she truly was: strong, proud and dignified.
Once again he had made reservations at a restaurant that she liked (a different one this time) and had arranged with the chef that the ring would be in her cake. That way when she was eating the chocolate cheesecake that she always ordered, she would stumble across the ring with her fork leaving Draco to say those four little words. It was a corny idea but he knew that she would appreciate it because it was against his nature and more towards her own.
This plan had fallen through as well, though. Ginny had arrived late to their date by almost an hour in quite a state. Apparently her brothers had been giving her a hard time once again about the fact that he, Malfoy, was only using her for some dark purpose. Draco was a little annoyed to say the least, and it wasn't only about the now ruined proposal. He had been to a year and a half's worth of Weasley family gatherings where he had acted as kind and as good intentioned as it was possible for him to act, and they had now thrown it right back in his face for the third time this month.
After rambling the story with frantic gestures, Ginny had apologized and asked if they could just spend the night at home and he had agreed. It had been a bit of a tricky business, however, convincing her that he did have a valid reason to go to the kitchens quickly. He had to get his ring out of the cake of course, couldn't let some other wanker get his Ginny's ring. He had managed to get it back and then proceeded to spend the rest of the night trying to calm his distressed girlfriend until she fell asleep in his arms.
Draco waited two more weeks until his third attempt. He figured that this time it would happen because three's the charm. It was Christmas and he decided to play on the idea of "good things come in small packages" and wrap the ring in a nice little box. It was a little odd to have it absent from his pocket, but Draco tried to ignore that idea. He placed the small and quaintly wrapped box under the tree at Malfoy Manor so she could find it on Christmas morning and open it (they were spending Christmas Eve with her family and the morning just the two of them seeing as Draco's family was no longer in a position to celebrate Christmas). The third charm had spat in his face as Ginny never found that little box as it had been lost among the mountain of wrappings. Draco had not been intelligent enough to keep the little present in his pocket and given it to her after the furious ripping of wrapping, by both parties, had been completed. He had ripped the little box apart in his irritation and jammed the ring back in his pocket. He ignored the sense of security it seemed to bring him.
For the next three months he began to get desperate. It was beginning to seem that that stupid ring would never get out of his pocket and onto her elegant finger. He was going to be a bachelor with an engagement ring in his pocket for the rest of his life. This sense of desperation understandably rubbed off on his technique for his next eight attempts began simpler and simpler. His last desperate attempt had been on Valentines Day but that had become a disaster as Ginny had become sick and lay in bed for the rest of the week. He had spent the supposedly romantic day lying next to her in bed listening to her sniffle in an attempt to clear her nasal passages and watched chick flicks with her. A day later he had become sick himself. He was becoming so desperate that he was beginning to debate taking her to a Quidditch game and having the announcer shout it out for him. Somehow he knew that would prove to be an absolute disaster. And with good reason it seemed. The scary part was that he was beginning to like the presence of that ring. He caught himself taking it out of his pocket more and more frequently when he was alone just so he could stare at it.
Today he would try again. Yet as he sat there, moodily glaring at the fire in his office, he had the sinking suspicion that today would be no different than any of his other attempts. That today he would fail once more and he would continue to be Ginny Weasley's boyfriend and not her fiancé. This idea was furthered by the fact that he couldn't bring himself to get out of his chair. Depression is a terrible thing. It's even worse when you know just what will cure it. Worse further when you can't get that cure.
Draco did eventually mange to get out of his office and down to the park where he was supposed to meet his beloved. The idea was to take a "spring time stroll" and take in the budding trees and flowers. It had been her idea and he couldn't refuse. If it made her happy then he would be there just to see the pleasure on her face. He found her under a willow tree, dressed in an outfit that left little to the imagination despite its wispy layers of materials that seemed to be far too many in number. She smiled up at him as he descended the hill towards her, yet as he got closer the smile began to fade.
"Draco, are you alright?" she asked him once he had come to a stop before her. "You look as if you just lost the World Cup." He wondered if he shoved the ring at her now if it would work. He had the feeling that he would break his hand trying to get the ring out.
"I'm fine," he replied as bravely as he could, trying his hardest to straighten the slouch out of his back and look more awake. It only half worked. "I just haven't been sleeping very well lately."
"Are you sure?" she persisted, taking a step towards him and putting her hand on his forehead. "You look a little paler than usual." She grinned a little at him then. "I didn't even think that was possible."
"Ha Ha," he sneered at her, taking her hand off if his forehead and using it to pull her towards himself. "I'm just peachy, trust me."
"But Draco," the red head responded, snuggling into his arms. Oh how he loved it when she did that. "Peachy isn't exactly a good thing."
"Well it is today," he said with slight finality and gently tugged her to stand beside him so they could commence their "spring time stroll".
Things had been going well, insanely well really. The two former Hogwarts students made their way through the park, the shorter of the two pointing out random things while the taller had a sarcastic comment for each of her topics. Taking into account that this is what always happens when the two of them are together, often switching roles, it was a good day.
"Aww!" Ginny said in a girlish coo that she was known for doing from time to time. Draco didn't mind it though. "Look at all the little ducklings!" She was pointing to the water that they were looking down on from a small lookout point surrounded by budding trees. "They're just so cute!"
"Yah," Draco responded, glaring down at the little fuzzy balls in the water. "They're cute until they get older and begin attacking you because you didn't give them enough of your picnic bread." He was still a little weary of ducks ever since a goose had attacked him as a child. He had been trying to pet the bird, thinking it was quite cool to see a bird that was the same size of him. Needless to say things hadn't gone very well and he never looked at ducks in the same light again. And when ever he thought he perhaps might have a slight inkling for them he had only to look at his scar to remember exactly why he hated them more than anything else on the planet. Well, save Harry Potter of course.
"Not all ducks are evil, Draco," the Weasley responded, sobering slightly. "I can promise you that not all water foul are out to get you. You just have to give them a chance." She paused. "I think I know what I am going to get you for your birthday next month..."
"If it has anything to do with ducks I'll have nothing to do with it," he said quickly, perhaps a little too quickly for the red head laughed. Oh Merlin how he wished he could hear that sound every day for the rest of his life. With this passing thought it mind, Draco's hand strayed to his pocket and slipped the ring onto the tip of his index finger. He then pulled it out into the light and slipped his hand behind his back.
"I would never dream of doing anything like that to you dear," she said in a sarcastically sweet tone that made something funny happen in Draco's stomach. He wanted her to be his so much. With her attention on the little minions of hell, Draco began to get down on one knee, ignoring the slightly muddy ground. He could handle filth if it was to be with her for the rest of his life. And he had just this mind set until something landed on his nose. Then another such something did the same. And another. And another.
"It's raining," Ginny said happily, smiling as she watched the falling drops hit the lake's surface. Draco stopped mid crouch as the sky opened up and began to poor water down on them, effectively soaking them in the span of a half a minute. "Isn't it great Dra-" She cut off as she turned around to face him, a surprised look on her face at his odd posture.
"No," Draco said darkly, straightening back up slowly. He glared at the falling water. "No, it is not great." Ginny opened her mouth to speak, but he continued without waiting to hear what she had to say. He had had enough. He looked up at the sky then. "What the hell does it take for things to go right for me?" he demanded the sky and the rain as if they were the reasons why things were always going so wrong. Then he realized what he really should be asking and pulled the ring into view. He heard Ginny gasp but he was far too angry to care. "Why couldn't you let me do it the way I wanted?!" he yelled at the ring, glaring at it as though it were a real person. Which, I might add, is quite silly. "Why couldn't you let things be perfect? The way they should be?!"
"Draco," Ginny said slowly, reaching out and placing a hand on his arm. "Draco, honey, are you alright? You're screaming at a... ring."
He looked up at her, momentarily noting how nice her hair looked straight and pulled down by the rain. Then the present situation returned to him. "No, I am not alright!" he said angrily, shaking his head so hard that water flew off of him. "I have been trying to use this stupid ring to propose to you for the past five months and every bloody time something goes horribly wrong! I'm so sick of all this failure! All I want is to be with you but the stupid ring doesn't seem to want it to happen! It just doesn't understand that I love you more than anyone or anything I have ever known! It just wants me to be bitter and depressed..." He trailed off, realizing that the woman before him had an expression of mingled shock, amusement and concern on her face.
"Well," she began after a moment's silence. A stretch of silence that was filled by the sound of rain falling. "Why don't you try it now? I can't see anything going wrong now."
He looked up at her through his long, wet bangs. "Oh Gin," he said softly. "I wanted it to be different than this. I wanted it to be a good memory, not one that makes you think that I am a complete nutter."
"But I already knew that," she said softly in return. "You fell for me."
He snorted slightly at that then took in a shaky breath. The next thing he knew he was on one knee and holding the damned ring up to her. She smiled nervously down on him. "Virginia Weasley," he started with his best undrawlish voice, taking her hand gently and sliding the ring where it should have been five months ago. Where he had dreamed of it being for far too long. "Will you marry me?"
Her smile spread slightly. "Yes," she said softly then let out a small laugh. "Yes, Draco Malfoy, I will marry you." With that, Draco leapt to his feet and wrapped his arms around her before anything could happen that could spoil the moment. It made the woman in his arms laugh a bit more.
He looked down on her beautiful face and smiled at her, his heart feeling as though it was going to burst. He had done it. He had finally done it. And she had accepted. And now she was his. His fiancé. His soon to be wife. "I love you," his whispered before bring his lips to meet hers where she tasted of Ginny and rain.
A minute or so later, I wasn't counting, he broke away slightly breathless then smirked down on her. "First thing we do tomorrow is buy a new ring. That thing is a bloody menace that does not deserve to be on your finger. I don't even know why I carried around for five months."
Ginny held up her hand and looked down on the beautiful ring. "No," she said simply, looking up at him and smiling. "No, I want to keep it."
"But it's no good," he insisted. "It's a horrible piece of jewelry."
"I don't care," she said in a slightly stubborn tone. "If you carried this around in your pocket for almost half a year then it makes it all the more special." Draco frowned down on her in confusion. "Because it proves just how far you were willing to go for me. How much you were willing to go through to prove you loved me."
Realization hit Draco and he began to think that perhaps the ring wasn't that bad after all. Maybe it had been planning this all along. Planning to make Draco work hard for what he wanted and proving to the one he loved exactly how much he truly did love her. How much he really wanted her. He realized now that if he had just bought the ring and given it to her it wouldn't have been special. Not to mention far from perfect. But this way, this way was beginning to seem more and more perfect every minute. And he silently thanked the ring for it.
"I love you," he repeated after a moment of pondering, tightening his hold on her.
"I love you too," she sighed, stretching up and kissing him soundly on the lips.
The End
~*~
A/N: Well there you have it. Some nice fluff. And just in time for the holidays. Yay. And I hope you all noticed the last sentence. For it's true. It is the end. No more. Nope. ~grin~ Happy holidays everyone!